Tuesday, October 28, 2014

This week was good! It was super busy but a lot of good things happened!

Saturday was really busy with the baptisms, mission exhibition, and the ward halloween party. The baptism went really well. It was really neat to hear Hanna get up and share her testimony. Her parents who are Catholic came and supported her so that was really cool too. I think it was a really special day for both Hanna and 윤비 (yoon bee). In our last lesson with Hanna before her baptism, our commitment was to meet Sis Lee at the temple in one year so she can be sealed to her family. She really wants to be sealed to her family forever so she said she will. She is moving next week to Seoul South mission so we will refer her to them for the RC lessons. We are going to start doing the RC lessons with 윤비 this week.

We met with 전주윤 (jeon joo yoon) yesterday and taught her the plan of salvation. She accepts everything well and never has any questions which is a little hard. We try to ask her questions to get her to respond to make sure she understands well. We asked her to explain the plan to us after and she explained really well. I asked her what she needs to do in order to live in the Celestial Kingdom with Heavenly Father and so we talked about the gospel and baptism... etc. She said she still wants to be baptized next month. She came to church yesterday and is keeping commitments.

We got a referral from the elders this week. It was a girl they met and invited to the halloween party. She came and brought a friend. They are both high school students and are super cute. They had a ton of fun at the halloween party and made friends with some of the young women. One of them was going to come to church yesterday but slept in on accident but they are both planning on coming this sunday.

So on saturday we had to scrub the baptism font before the baptism and i was in there and suddenly this MASSIVE spider comes crawling out from the drain and Sister Haynie and I both freaked out and thankfully the elders caught it and killed it, but it was so scary and so funny at the same time. hahaha we just have so many random things happen.

I have to describe sunday mornings to you. Because it's just so different than the typical sunday morning in Utah. So all the missionaries greet the members at the door or on the road so we see them all roll in 9:55. (typical mormon style) but instead of the suburbans all flying into the parking lot, taxis all pull up and members hop out. I love it. Meanwhile, the other church across the street meets in like the 4th floor of a building and they have like a rock band and all the members sing to it and it's soooo funny. hahhaa i love korea so much.

the ward halloween party was a success. We had lots of different activities and it turned out to be really fun. the donught on a string game (except with choco pies), the cake walk, bobbing for apples- except we did cure- a fruit similar to cuties, fishing... etc. The 4 sister missionaries were crayons. it was fun!

This week I studied Alma 36 about repentance/forgiveness and thought about Alma when he testified to Helaman and told his conversion process and how he went from being racked with his sins in pain and horror, and then remembering his father's prophecy unto the people concerning the coming of Christ to atone for the sins of the world. When he remembered, he was harrowed up by the memory of his sons no more. Then had joy and light and exquisite and sweet joy and longed to be with God. I think it's really cool that he remembered the words of his father. It shows that people may not accept what we say now, but later on they may remember the words we speak. I just love this chapter because it shows how the Atonement can relieve us of such terrible things and carry us to greater heights if we will allow it to.

welll

r- cute costume! glad the howl was fun! jazz game sounds fun too. how's track practice going? i found some old letters you sent me telling me about your races at simplot. crazy. when does indoor start?

d- good job with the mini bowl!!! you are awesome! and nice job in b-ball! i heard you did way good! hopefully ASU gives the utes a beat down this week. hahaha let me know how that goes :)

e- good luck with your math test. i like your costume! you look so cute! Thanks for the package and letters in it! i loved the muellar park leaves! they are on my desk :)

j- your mutual activity sounds fun! i'm so glad you got to see pics from sis lynn! how was your violin concert? thanks for the notes you sent too!! i hung them up on my wall!

a- your nerd costume is ADORABLE! you are the cutest nerd i've ever seen!! send me a pic of your room! how does it look now? how is ballet?? are you going to the nutcracker soon?

i- i would rather jump off a cliff into water because i love cliff jumping. what would you rather do? what are you being for hallloween? are you excited? you are very smart because you can do hard things in school.

i love you all!!! have a good week!

love sis tara anderson

"The day we went biking on the river a few weeks ago."

"A way cute little boy from the last ward!"

"Creepy pig thing next to the church in the last area hahaha"

"My last district. (I never sent these pics so I'm sending them now)"

"Sister Haynie and I at the halloween party. We went as crayons haha :)"

Well tons has happened since last week. Transfers and I'm in a new area. My new area is in the main part of Seoul more. I really like it! Tons of hills and neighborhoods. It's different from my last area in some ways, but similar in some ways too. My last ward was huge and this ward is tiny! I'm excited to meet more ward members. I live with 2 other sisters. One of them is sister Haynie who is from Burley Idaho. She is training a korean girl who joined the church a year ago. Sister Haynie and I served together when I was a greenie and went on exchanges together once. She is super sweet. She goes home 6 weeks before me. We are already really good friends so it's fun living with her. My comp is super sweet too. She is super solid and has a strong testimony. I really like her.

So we have already seen some really cool things here. First I will tell you about an investigator we have. Her name is Hanna. Her husband is a member but was LA for a long time. After her married her he introduced her to the church and has being coming ever since. She has been meeting with the missionaires for like 6 months or something. She has had 2 other baptism dates but her husband always tells her no and that she's not ready. Nobody could figure out why she wanted to be baptized, but her biggest opposition was her husband who is a member. So she has a baptismal date of this saturday and when we met her last week, she said her husband said no. My comp called and talked to him and he said they are moving next month and that she will get baptized after they moved. :( So we (all four sisters in our area) decided to fast for her and for her husband's heart to be softened. We taught her the other night and told her that we were fasting for her. She was really shocked and touched by the fact that we were doing that. Yesterday at church, her husband was still pretty set in his way, but thanked the missionaries for helping his wife. Then last night we got a call from Hanna. She said that her husband told her the reason for putting off her baptism. He felt like he is unworthy to baptize her since he was less active for a while so he kept delaying it. But they called up the Bishop and talked to him and the bishop said that he is worthy and he can baptize her. So he gave the Ok and she is being baptized this saturday. Hanna said she thinks it is from the fasting that touched his heart and made him open up. Miracle!!!

We are also teaching a 10 year old girl who's mom is LA. Her aunt has been bringing her to church for a while and she has been taught by missionaries. Yesterday we taught her with 3 other primary kids and her aunt. The other primary kids are her friends and were so adorable in helping us teach the lesson and go over baptism interview questions. They are such good little missionaries! She is being baptized this saturday!

We met with one investigator this week and it was her second time meeting missionaries. She is actually the cousin of one of the elders serving in our zone. She is 19. Her name is Joo yoon. She really likes missionaries and usually comes to church. She is super sweet. We invited her to be baptized next month and she accepted it and accepted nov. 15 as her baptism date! yay!

So the elders gave us a referral the other night. They have an investigator who is really old- like in his 80's And they told us to come meet his "granddaughter". We went with elders to the man's house. He lives in a tinny villa apartment thing and his house is pretty sketchy. haha. anyways, we met the girl. Turns out she is actually not his granddaughter. She is 18 years old and is Chinese. SHe was born in korea and when she was 3 days old her mom abandoned her and went back to China. She has no family. Complete orphan. An old lady helped raise her and this man (the elder's investigator) was involved in helping poor kids in China get an education. So he has like no money, but he has raised money to help kids in the past. So he has tried to help her. He is kind of like a grandfather or father figure to her. anyways, we met her and she is absolutely adorable. The old guy kept saying: "Anderson. you have to help her." Anderson you have to help her." You are her American 어니 (oh nee which means older sister) So we got to know her and taught her about the BOM and she really liked it. She was so touched and grateful that we gave it to her. I told her that sometimes I feel lonely here in Korea. My family is in America and I'm all by myself here. Sometimes I feel alone. But when I read this book, I feel comforted and I don't feel alone. I know that no matter where we are, Heavenly Father knows us and loves us and we can pray to him anytime. She said that growing up, she had no family or anything. just the lady who was raising her. So she would come home and hug her dolls and call them 어니 (sister) and talk to them. She was so grateful that she met us and started calling me 어니. She said she wants to meet with us again. The bummer is that she lives pretty far. But she said she will come back. We ended up going to eat some food at a tiny WAY cheap chinese resturant and after, we took her to the train station to go home. She texted us after and said thank you so much. This day has so much meaning to me... She is so sweet. I can't even tell you how much i love her even though I barely know her! She was actually pretty interested in our message. I hope we can meet her again soon.

This week it was so so good to listen to Conference! We watched part on friday, part on sunday, and the women's session this morning. We were crammed in the clerk's office this morning watching it off the internet. it was fun! Also it was so fun to finally see the girls singing I love to see the temple!! They are so cute!!!! loved it so much!

The other days we were in the little visitor's center in our church that has a flat screen on the wall. I wrote down 4 or 5 specific questions I had regarding myself and my investigators that I was hoping I would receive answers to, and I got an answer to every one of them. It was so good! One of my favorite talks was Elder Bednar's talk in the last session about why we share the gospel- because we want to share what makes us feel good and let others experience the same. So good!! I also loved Pres. Uchtdorf's, Elder Scott's, Pres. Eyering, and Pres. Monson's talks. Conference is the best!!!!

A highlight of conference was that 박정미 (park jong me) came to the Saturday morning session of Conference! We taught her earlier in the week with a member who is about her same age. They have become really good friends and it was really helpful having her there. Having the member there seemed to help her open up and ask more questions. It went a little different than we had originally planned, but it went well. We talked about the Priesthood and why we need to be baptized through Christ's restored Priesthood. She still doesn't fully understand that, but we were able to help explain, with the member, why our church is the only church that has the priesthood. She has been taught all of this before, but I think it's just taking a while for her to fully understand everything. Anyways, the member helped her decide to come to conference and then they sat together. She said it was really good and she felt so peaceful to hear God's word. I am going to see her on Tuesday before I leave, and then she will have a lesson on Wednesday again with the same member.

I'm being transferred to 길음. it's in the east part of seoul. i think? not really sure. excited and nervous! Korean companion again!

We are no longer able to get in contact with 진영선. She wont' respond to our texts or calls. We invited her to conference and she didn't respond or come. I told her I want to see her before I leave but she won't respond. :( :(

We met some really cool people through 전도 (street contacting) this week. We set some return appointments and are meeting with some new people this week. (well Sis. Fuller will meet them).

I am sad to leave 녹번 but excited to meet new people in 길음. Leaving an area is always hard but I know that It is where Heavenly Father needs me and I will go and do my best. I am thankful that I could serve here with Sister Fuller. She is awesome and I learned tons from her.

ok sorry this letter is so random and jumping everywhere.

We had dinner with all 12 missionaries at these sweet member's house. They are an elderly couple in the ward that remind me of Baba and Grandma. They went all out and made so much good food. They were so sweet and loving having everyone over. Kept saying how happy they were and took lots of pics. I told her thank you so much and that she reminds me of my grandma. They were so adorable. Made me miss bobs and grandma :)

Biking along the Han river was SOOO fun!!! We went and played football on the grass with our district along the river. Reminded me of San Diego along the beaches where there is grass. Anyways, of course I got way into it and had a blast!!!

alright i have to run!!!

rdejai- i love all of you!!! thanks for your letters! i miss you and love you and think about you! you are my best friends! (and mom and dad :)) have a good week!!!

This week was good. We didn't have very many lessons, but we got to be out talking to people a lot so that was good. We had a ward activity and we all went hiking through a pass in Bukhansan Mountain. It was a ton of fun and so fun to be up in the mountains. (i miss the mountains a lot!) It was a great opportunity to talk to members and get to know some better. One thing about Korea is that EVERYONE hikes. haha all people like 40 or older hike. They all have their special hiking clothes they wear all the time and are constantly going. so fun. haha. Anyways, We invited a lot of investigators and potential investigators. Sadly none could come, but we still had a good time with the members and it was way pretty.

So for the month of october, Sister Fuller and I are cuttting out sweets, white flour, and rice. (yes rice the thing we eat at EVERY meal) haha except for member meals, because it's impolite to reject. So, we went to the market and bought tons of fresh veggies and have been eating extra healthy. so fun! The markets here are so great. a million little ladies sitting on the street selling fresh veggies for SO cheap. so much fun. I will have to send a pic next week.

A member took us to lunch this week and took us to eat PIG FEET. haha it actually wasn't too bad, but the thought of eating a pig's foot was a little alarming. the way they eat it is wrapped in a piece of lettuce with some sauce on it. (my favorite food- just with meat other than pig feet) haha.

This week all of the primary kids from the stake came for a thing at our church. They were all in the gym so i went in to say hi and they all came running up to me saying "Anderson Cha mae neem! Anderson cha mae neem!!" (sister anderson) tugging on my arms and legs and hugging me. HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THE KOREAN CHILDREN!!!! In my area now, there aren't a ton of kids, so i miss all of the sweet kids in my last ward. so much fun to see them. They are like my little siblings. Thanks for sending the pics of the girls singing in the women's session!! I know a whole bunch of them and love them so much. i can't wait to watch it!!!! <3

Investigators:진영선s (jin young son) cancelled both of our lessons with her this week. It's a bummer when you prepare so much for investigators and really feel like what you have planned will help them and then they cancel. We have been sending her quotes and scriptures throughout the week and usually she doesn't comment back on them. We are staying on top of the ward members- the ones that she knows well- and are making sure they invite her to church and text her. A few members have been really good about that. I continue to fast and pray for her to have a desire to come back. I really hope we can meet with her this week.

We met with 박정미 (park jong me) this week and she is doing really well. We taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and kind of linked it to the Plan of Salvation. She read one of the chapters we assigned her to this week but apologized because she didn't have it memorized, but when we reviewed it, she knew everything perfectly. When we teach her, I can see the spirit working on her. I really feel like she knows it's true, it's just a lot to take in so she's taking it slow. When I asked her if she believes it's true, she said well this is all new to me. She didn't say yes or no, but I testified and told her that before we came to earth we all knew this plan and wanted this plan. I promised her that if she prays about it, this plan will seem familiar to her and she will know that it is true. We are meeting with her again this wednesday with a member in the ward who is about her same age, who she has met with in the past. I love Sis. Park so so much. She is so great. This week we're going to try to giver her a baptismal date.

This month our focus is the doctrine of Christ, particularly Enduring to the end. I have been thinking a lot about it since training so I studied it a little bit this week. I read Elder Uchtdorf's talk from conference 2 years ago called "of Regrets and Resolutions" He talks about 3 things that many people wished they could change as they were nearing the end of their life. 1. spending time with those they love 2. living up to their potential 3. let themselves be happier. I thought about those things, and then I also thought about the things I am learning from my mission that will help me endure to the end. I wrote a letter to myself for the future, and talked about specific things that I have learned from my mission that I will do for the rest of my life, along with committing myself to the gospel and to be a disciple of Jesus Christ forever.

I am so thankful to be here in Korea. I love being a missionary and I love this gospel with all of my heart. I know that it is true and the only thing that will bring us TRUE happiness in this life. I love you!!!

r: love you. i love the play by play of your week. :) thanks so much. how's track? can't believe the ags beat byu :'(

d: way to go in football! you are awesome! good luck with sunday night suprises. hahaha

e: i love hearing about your cute things you make in sewing! you are amazing!! send pics!

j: how was conference and girls night? sounds so fun!! i hope you are doing good!! love you!

a: tree house museum sounds so fun!! do you love being out of school?! your sign sounds adorable!

i: can't believe the story of the coyote. that's so cool. i love you more than all the rattlesnakes in the world.

better run. today we're going with our district to bike around the Han River. Super excited! will be a lot of fun. Ohhh we will probably watch conference this weekend. Not really sure. hopefully soon. love you lots!